If DOMA is struck down, I can see problems unfolding. Broadly, I'd say that it's stupid benefit policies that we've historically gotten away with, that will be cast into the light post-DADT and DOMA.

[Edited on June 11, 2013 at 12:40 AM. Reason : maybe it'll be a catalyst to finally unfuck a bunch of stuff, but i doubt it.]

6/10/2013 9:47:48 PM

Here are some pics from the San Diego pride march that happened this weekend, including military folks marching openly, a couple of women kissing after getting married at pride now that DOMA/Prop8 are gone, and of course George Takei.











http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Military-Recruiters-Coming-to-Pride-213008681.html

Quote :

"Military recruiters will have boots on the ground at Pride this year."

7/14/2013 11:47:43 PM

.

[Edited on July 15, 2013 at 2:41 AM. Reason : .]

7/15/2013 2:35:42 AM

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/first-same-sex-marriage-announcement-at-the-coast-guard-acad

Quote :

"First Same-Sex Marriage Announcement At The Coast Guard Academy Two women celebrate their engagement as the U.S. service academies begin to change following the repeal of DADT and end of DOMA. It’s a tradition at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., that when a cadet becomes engaged to be married, the lucky man or woman’s friends will announce the engagement to the entire corps in the wardroom at lunchtime, the one meal that all four years of students eat together. On Thursday, Dec. 5, the announcement was a little different. “Over the weekend, Cadet First Class Kaitlin Ward got down on one knee and proposed to her longtime girlfriend, Lauren Bloch. This is the first announcement of its type.” There was a brief moment of silence as the room realized the significance of the announcement — the first in the school’s 137-year history — before the corps of cadets started cheering and whooping for their classmate and her fiancée, the latest couple who had met and fallen in love at the academy."

12/12/2013 11:28:50 AM

From the Washington Blade, looks like even Mississippi is on board now:

December 13, 2013

Quote :

"All state national guards are now compliant with an edict from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel requiring them to processing spousal benefit applications for troops in same-sex marriages, according to the Pentagon. In a statement provided to the Washington Blade, Hagel confirmed that all gay service members can apply for military IDs for their spouses at military installations throughout the country. “Following consultations between the National Guard Bureau and the Adjutants General of the states, all eligible service members, dependents and retirees — including same-sex spouses — are now able to obtain ID cards in every state,” Hagel said. A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mississippi, the last remaining hold-out state, came on board sometime this week, although the official didn’t have an exact date for when that happened."

12/13/2013 9:50:22 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/21/3477965/couple-exchange-vows-in-same-sex.html

Quote :

"Couple exchange vows in same-sex ceremony at Fort Bragg FAYETTEVILLE — Maj. Daniel Toven and Johnathan Taylor celebrated their marriage Saturday in the historic Main Post Chapel on Fort Bragg with more than 100 family members and friends."

Quote :

"They are the first same-sex couple to hold a celebration ceremony in a chapel on Fort Bragg, an event that may have been most notable for its similarity to uncounted thousands of others that have taken place at the chapel since it was built in 1932. The service was officiated by the Rev. Harry Abernathy, a missioner of the Sandhills Episcopal Cluster of Churches, based in Hamlet. The couple was sponsored by Army Chaplain Capt. George Tyger. The pair attend St. John’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville."

Quote :

"Especially since the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 2011, Toven and Taylor have enjoyed the support of Toven’s military family, some of whom attended Saturday’s ceremony in uniform. Recently, Toven’s commander took Taylor aside to help plan a surprise: Toven would be promoted from captain to major during a holiday concert last Wednesday night by the Armed Forces Band at Meymandi Hall in Raleigh. The promotion ceremony, normally witnessed only by military personnel and close family, took place onstage before a packed, cheering crowd. That a two-star general would conspire with Toven’s spouse in such a way, he said, was just one more indication of how welcome the Army has made the couple feel."

12/23/2013 1:09:26 PM

An Honorable Last Wish For A Dying Marine

Quote :

"Hal Faulkner is 79 years old and he's already lived months longer than his doctors predicted. "I don't know what to say, it's just incredible that I'm still here," Faulkner says in a halting voice made gruff by age and cancer. Faulkner joined the Marines in 1953, and served in the Philippines. In 1956, he got kicked out with an "undesirable discharge" for being gay. His military papers said "homosexual" on them, quite an obstacle in the 1950s. Still, Faulkner moved on, and had a successful career in sales. A few years ago, when he got diagnosed with terminal cancer, Faulkner contacted his family about a dying wish. "I always knew he served in the Marines, but no one in the family knew of the [undesirable] discharge," says his niece, Michelle Clark. Faulkner had come out to his family in 2005, attending a wedding with his partner of more than 20 years. But now he told them that the repeal of "don't ask don't tell" had made it possible to get his military discharge upgraded after years of avoiding the subject. "He's been carrying this societal shame with him all these years," Clark says. "We as a family had no idea the pain he had inside of him." But a correction of military records usually takes at least six months, as well as a lawyer. The activist group OutServe-SLDN helped Faulkner get a pro-bono lawyer from the New York firm Winston & Strawn. When lawyer Anne Brooksher-Yen saw the case and the time frame, she was worried, even when the military agreed to expedite the case. "I didn't know whether expedited was going to mean six weeks or six months," Anne Brooksher-Yen says. "So I did have a conversation with him that we might not be able to get this done before he died." The Marines acted on his dying request in just two weeks. Last Friday in Florida, a small group presented Faulkner with his honorable discharge. Michael Hartnett was a Marine during the Gulf War and served in Somalia. He received a bad conduct discharge for abusing drugs and alcohol. His wife, Molly, helped him turn his life around. "I didn't think that maybe I would last through all the battles that we've had, but a Marine is always a Marine," Faulkner said at the ceremony. As he spoke, two young Marines in uniform presented him with his papers. Air Force Lt. Col. John Gillespie, who is on the board of OutServe-SLDN, read the new discharge paper out loud. Friends and family stood by, mostly in tears, including Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign which pushed for years to allow gays in the military. Sainz hopes more veterans will get their records upgraded. "What happened today is that a dying man, his dignity was restored," Sainz says. "He will die here knowing that he served his country honorably. You certainly can't right the wrong of six decades, [but] you can make it right going forward. And that's what happened today, and that's what we hope will come to thousands of American similarly situated." Sainz reckons at least 114,000 troops got bad discharges for being gay in the years before "don't ask, don't tell." But many of them don't even know they're eligible to correct their records and get benefits like VA health care or home loans. For Faulkner, it was never about the benefits, says his lawyer Anne Brooksher-Yen. "It was really overwhelming seeing Hal finally have this wrong righted," she says. "He is such a wonderful loving man, and he served with honor in the military and it was so important to him." "I don't have much longer to live," Faulkner said, "I will always be a Marine. Thank you. Semper fi." The young marines answered him back with the Marines battle cry: "Oorah.""

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/06/260020686/an-honorable-last-wish-for-a-dying-marine

(Republicans would probably boo this guy)

[Edited on January 6, 2014 at 10:24 AM. Reason : .]

1/6/2014 10:23:26 AM